'Charity shops may have to open charity shops just to survive' say charities

The Alliance of High Street Charity Shop Executives has issued a report claiming nearly half its members made a loss in 2012 in the face of dwindling sales and rising costs, and found that opening a charity shop might be the only way some charity shops can survive.

'Our storage costs for Dan Brown books is sky-rocketing, and we are bracing ourselves for a deluge of "50 Shades" donations in the New Year,' said one charity boss. 'Where are we going to put them?'

Some execs fear that they may be forced onto out-of-town retail sites, warning that we could then see a rise on UK high-streets of shops that sell stuff like milk, bread and Lambert & Butler.